Grids key for Gulf solar
The year 2025 was quite an exciting one for renewable energy professionals in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the rest of the Gulf Region. Marcus Schrauf, CEO at FAS Renewables looks back on a year that saw the first gigawatt-scale battery storage tenders, a few more gigawatt-scale PV auctions, as well as discussions about new regulations in Oman – all strong indicators of a continuously growing market in the Gulf.
Maximizing MACSE
Italian renewable energy experts welcomed the results of Italy’s first electricity storage capacity procurement mechanism (MACSE) auction, held on Sept. 30, 2025. The exercise offered benefits such as lower system costs, but drawbacks remain, including the erosion of operators’ margins. A total capacity of 9,968 MWh has already been allocated, but the cleared prices at auction are just part of the future revenue stack for Italian battery energy storage systems (BESS), as Sergio Matalucci reports.
Powering flexibility
Once limited to pilot-scale demonstrations, battery storage is emerging as a core feature of national power strategies across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Governments that once regarded batteries as experimental add-ons to solar projects are now offering gigawatt-hour capacities and incorporating storage into long-term planning.
China’s drive for a polysilicon bailout
Following a lengthy period of oversupply and falling prices for solar components, China’s central and local governments are working with PV industry giants to implement an unprecedented plan to purchase and eliminate excess capacities. Vincent Shaw reports on China’s efforts to bring PV oversupply under control.
Poly probe outcome hard to predict
US solar stocks had a strong October but all eyes are on the Section 232 investigation into polysilicon. The size and design of quotas is expected to have a significant impact across the solar value chain, reports Jesse Pichel of Roth Capital Partners.
Solar shines through Mali’s diesel drought
France-based commercial solar specialist Tysilio recently installed three hybrid solar-plus-storage projects in Bamako, Mali. pv magazine spoke with Xavier Juin von Juterzenka, the company’s co-founder, CEO and international business director, about how these installations have helped customers continue to operate while a severe fuel shortage causes heavy disruptions nationwide.
Concentration and localization
Demand for PV in the Middle East has become concentrated in markets with relatively mature regulatory frameworks, bankable power purchase agreement (PPA) terms, and assessable risk profiles. But PV markets in other countries in the region remain limited in scale or still at a stage of policy uncertainty.
Publisher’s Pick: Energy storage innovation
Huawei Technologies’ FusionSolar C&I Hybrid Cooling ESS LUNA2000-215-2S10 brings patented innovation to a market segment that is increasingly important to solar and the broader energy transition.
The business case for C&I storage
In 2024, European businesses installed roughly 20 GW of commercial and industrial (C&I) solar, but only around 1 GW/2 GWh of C&I battery storage. The gap is striking. Both technologies promise lower energy bills, improved resilience, and decarbonization, but batteries are yet to achieve the same commercial traction that solar enjoys. LCP Delta’s Dina Darshini asks why the gap persists.
MENA’s next move
Solar power across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is expanding at an unprecedented rate. Insights from the Middle East Solar Industry Association (MESIA) Solar Outlook Report 2025, based on data from Rystad Energy, show that the region’s installed solar capacity reached about 24 GW (AC) in 2024, marking a 25% increase from the previous year. Asma’u Umar, research intern at MESIA, notes that much of this growth has been driven by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt, where abundant sunlight and open desert land are turning the region into a global hub for solar power and energy diversification.
